The International Day of Action Against Dams:
For Rivers, Water, and Life was inspired and mandated by the participants
of the First International Meeting
of People Affected by Dams that took place in March, 1997 in Curitiba,
Brazil. Representatives from twenty countries including Taiwan, Brazil,
Chile, Lesotho, Argentina, Thailand, Russia, France, Switzerland, and
the United States decided that the International Day of Action would
fall on 14 March, Brazil's Day of Action Against Large Dams. One of
the goals for the Day of Action is to build and strengthen regional
and international networks within the international anti-dam movement.

The idea for the First International Meeting
of People Affected by Dams originated during an annual meeting of Brazil's
Movement of People Affected by Large Dams (MAB). In September, 1995
a preparatory meeting was held in Brazil and an international organizing
committee was formed headed by MAB and including International
Rivers Network (IRN), India's Save the Narmada Movement (NBA), Chile's
Biobío Action Group (GABB), and European Rivers
Network (ERN).

The First International Meeting of People
Affected by Dams was a successful first step in building and strengthening
a global network of the dam-affected. Many of the participants reported
an end to their feelings of isolation in their regional fights against
governments, lending agencies, and corporations, as well as a renewed
strength that they could carry back to their communities.

The International Day of Action Against Dams:
For Rivers, Water, and Life is the next step in strengthening the international
movement. Our aim is to raise our voices in unison against destructive
water development projects, reclaim the health of our rivers and watersheds,
and demand the equitable and sustainable management of our waterways.
By acting together, we will demonstrate that these issues are not merely
local, but global in scope.

ACTIONS :

ARGENTINA, Santa FéFundación ProtegerAction:Specifics to be announced, but will be against the
Paraná Medio Dam Project and for Paraná River protection.Contact Information:Jorge CappatoCasilla de Correo 5503000 Santa FéPhone & Fax: +54 42 970298jcproteg@satlink.com

ARGENTINA, Parana, Entre RiosAssociation of Environmental Organizations of the
Middle Paraná RiverAction:Starting on March 14, approximately 25 kayaks will
travel on the Gualeguay River, from the headwaters in the north to the
mouth in the south. They will stop in cities and communities, visiting
the media and schools in order to teach the people about the issues surrounding
the Paraná Medio Dam. The name of this action is "Alerta Gualeguay."Contact Information:Anacleto Llosa/Raul José RoccoRocamora 6703100 Parana, Entre RiosPhone: + 54 43 230910Fax: +54 43 220000eciobert@satlink.com

AUSTRALIAEnvirons KimberleyAction:Kimberley people who are concerned about plans to
dam the Fitzroy River will celebrate the Day of Action by holding a family
picnic at Willare Bridge. The event is being organized by Derby members
of Environs Kimberley. The aim is to raise awareness of the value of the
Fitzroy as one of Australia's few remaining wild rivers.Contact InformationNot available at the moment. Will be provided soon.

AUSTRALIA, Queensland, MackayMackay Conservation GroupActionThe Mackay Conservation Group is holding a celebration
in Mackay at JubileePark between 10am-2pm. all are welcome. They will
have a display informingof the downstream effects of dams and how that affects
the health of theoceans (it is the year of the ocean). They will
have stalls, displays, foodand music. "It is time for decision makers to broaden
their horizons andthink beyond short term gains for a section of the
community. We need tomove our thoughts onto long-term losses for the
whole community and theenvironment," says Lauren Appleby, Mackay Conservation
Group Coordinator.Contact InformationLauren Appleby, CoordinatorPO Box 826Mackay Qld 4740Phone: +61 7 4953 0808Fax: +61 7 4953 5438Email: mcg@m130.aone.net.au

BRAZILMovement of Dam-Affected People - Movimento dos
Atingidos por Barragens (MAB)Action:Brazil's Movement of Dam-Affected People has mobolized
in opposition to large dams on this day for at least a decade. MAB consists
of ten regional organizations, all of which are active against the approximately
400 dams planned in the near future. Look for specific actions to be listed
soon.Contact Information:Sandra Inez PaulinoRua 7 de Abril, 264Sala 72301014-000 Sao Paulo, SPPhone: +55 11 256 0839Fax: +55 11 256 0839

CANADA, New BrunswickMt. Allison UniversityAction:Student group is organizing an information day on
campus with a display of rivers, water and dam-related visual art work
from students and staff. The group will also show some videos and slides
explaining the impacts of dams.Contact Information:Kate Kennedy152 Main StreetSackville, New Brunswick E4L 1B3Phone: 506 536 5899Kaknndy@mta.ca

CANADA, OttawaOntario Public Research Interest Group (OPIRG)ActionThe Ontario Public Research Interest Group (OPIRG)
has 3 activities planned. One of them will be to call a speaker to educate
the group on river and dam issues in Ottawa and eastern Canada.The other event will be a combination of a river
clean up follwed by an outing on the Ottawa River. The third action will
be to set up information booths providing information and distributing
materials on dam projects in general and specifically the Biobio.Contact Information:Leigh HerbertBox 089Carleton University Residences1233 Colonel bt DriveOttawa, Ontario K1S 5B7Email: lherbert@chat.carleton.ca

COSTA RICA<BR>
Fundación Rios TropicalesAction:Construction of the Angostura Dam on the Reventazón
River will begin in March. They will do an action against this.Contact Information:Mélida L. BarbeeSJO #130PO Box 025312Miami, FL 33102Phone: 506.233.6455Fax: 506.255.4354

FRANCEAction"Warning camp" on the Chambonchard Dam site on the
Cher River (a tributary of the Loire) in Central France. The Chambonchard
Dam was cancelled in 1991 but has been rekindled in a new version.Program: Friday, 13 March the group will set-up
tents and meet with Mayor who favors the project. In the evening they
will show a film on dams and have an occupation party. Saturday, 14 March
they will visit the dam site and the plots of land bought by the opponents
of the project.Contact Information :Marie Arnould or Roberto EppleEuropean Rivers Network8, Rue CrozatierF-43000 Le PuyPhone: +33 (0) 471055788Fax: +33 (0) 471026099Email: ern at rivernet.org

GERMANY, KoelnUrgewaldActionA group of 10 to 15 people will present a declaration
about the ill use of rivers for transportation to Latin American embassies.
This declaration will be supported by 20 to 25 NGO representatives and
will highlight the negative ecological and social effects of "river highways"
in Germany. This action will urge the German government and the EU not
to finance projects like the Hidrovia Paraguay Parana. This action will
end with a press conference on the International Day of Action.Contact information:Maike RademakerHacklaender Strasse12D-50825 Koeln GermanyTel: +49 221 55 21 52Fax:+49 221 55 21 52Email: urgewald@koeln.netsurf.de

HUNGARY, BudapestDanube Charta, Danube Circle, Fund to Protect the
Hungarian Environment & OthersAction:Demonstration in Budapest oppossing the construction
of the Pilismarot Dam on the Danube, and the anti-democratic means which
the government of former Communists are using to try and crush the opposition.Contact Information:Bela Liptakliptakbela@aol.com

INDIA, Narmada
ValleyNarmada Bachao AndolanAction:The NBA will celebrate the Holi festival with hundreds
and thousands of adivasis (original dwellers of the valley) and other
representatives from 8 other dams in the valley including Maheshwar, Narmada,
Veda, Goi, Man and Bargi, on the banks of the River Narmada. The action
will take place in the area of the Sardar Sarovar Project that has been
saved from dam construction. The celebration will consist of dancing by
the adivasis , a meeting of activists, villagers from various organizations
and will end in a moonlight cruise for four hours on the Narmada River
heading towards the dam site.Contact Information:Medha PatkarB-13, Shivam FlatsEllora ParkBaroda 390 007Phone: +91 265 382232Fax: c/o +91 265 324958 (ATTN. NBA)NBA@lwbdq.lwbbs.net (NBA)

ITALY, RomeItalian Campaign for the Reform of the World Bank
and Leliop Basso International Foundation for the Rights and Liberation
of PeoplesAction:Will launch the report "LARGE SCALE DAMS, INDIGENOUS
PEOPLES' RIGHTS AND THE ENVIRONMENT: Three Cases -- Yacyreta, Chixoy,
Katse, The role of Italian TNC's, development aid, and the World Bank
and governments." The report, a section of which was presented at the
International Tribunal on Indigenous Peoples and Nature (Denver, June
1997), examines three cases of dams built by the Italian company Impreglio
in Argentina/Paraguay, Guatemala and Lesotho and funded by the World Bank
and Italian Development Aid.Contact Information:Francesco Martone/Liliana CoriCentro Internazionale CroceriaVia Ferraironi 88/G00172 RomaPhone: +39 6 244 04212Fax: +39 6 2424177fmartone@gn.apc.org

JAPAN, Gifu-ken,
Fujihashi VillageInternational Rivers Network SeinouAction International Rivers Network Seinou (Seinou
is west Mino area and valley of Ivi River) will hold a public meeting
to oppose the Tokuama Dam on the Ivi river in Gifu-ken.Contact InformationMakoto MiuraHonmachi 2-27Oogaki City GIFU-ken 503-0885Phone & Fax: +81 584 78 4119Email: tokuyama@geocities.co.jpWebsite: www.geocities.co.jp/WallStreet/1214 (Japanese
only)

JAPAN, KanagawaSagami River Camp-In SymposiumAction:Action at the Sagami-ozeki Dam site with paddling,
river walking, nature walking, and loud voice competition--maybe more.
On 14 March there is a river clean-up for nesting of Koajisasi (tern),
and a release of reports on the movement for the "right of wild life in
Japan," to be held in Tokyo Bunkyo-kumin Center. They ask that people
concerned for the wildlife in Japan to send letters of support to following
address and they will forward them to appropriate government officials.Contact Information:Ken-ichi Kanao3-12-59-202 HishinumaChigasakiKanagawa, 253Phone: +81 467 51 2446Fax: +81 467 51 2446VER00204@niftyserve.or.jp

JAPANYamayuri no kaiActionPlanning some action at the Tanzawa mountain which
is the Sagami River's origin. Further details will be announced.Contact Information :Masaaki Kusano2-25-16 Akuwa-nishiSeya, YokohamaKanagawa 246, JapanPhone & Fax: +81 45 364 6515

KAZAKHSTANKARAGANDA Organizations:
Ecomuseum
Ecoimage
Ecocenter Objects:
Small municipal streams Actions:
-Publishing articles in newspapers calling to protect the rivers
-Organize awareness lectures in schools where we will tellchildren about the troubles of our
rivers in Karaganda city. Thiswill prepare the ground for concrete actions in
the future and we willplant trees at the source.
-Organize a competition of children's pictures " RiversNeed Help".

POLANDKlub GajaAction:Their action will be aimed at private industry's
involvement in the future management of Vistula River and the proposal
to build seven dam cascade along the lower Vistula. They will also aim
their action at private industry's involvement in the Three Gorges Dam
project.Contact Information:Jacek BozekKlub GajaPO Box 26143-301 Bielsko Biala 1, PolandPhone & Fax: +48 33 12 36 94klub@gaja.most.org.pl

RUSSIA

Actions by City :

NIZHNI NOVGOROD:Organizations:-Coordination center of "Let's help the River";-"Berginia" newspaper and ecological center "Dront"-Childen's ecological clubs "Green Sail"; "White
Stork"; and "Wind Rose"Object of Action:-Volga River and small municipal streams: Rzhavka,Rakhma,
LevinkaActions:-round table discussion between citizen's groups,
municipal committee of nature protection , water committee about the issues
of small municipal streams-press-conference for media about the international
day of actions and the negative influence of the dams on the Volga river
andabout the poor control of the dam operation-publication of an open letter from children to
the mayor of the city against enclosing of the municipal streams in pipes-coordination of activities, exchange of information,
collection of information-making up and distribution of leaflets among the
local population

SARATOVOrganization:Newspaper "Nabat"Object of Action:Volga river - Saratov damActions:-publishing materials on the distructive influence
ofSaratov Dam on the Volga river.

YAROSLAVL'Organization:Ecological club "Green brunch"Object of Action:Small municipal streamsActions:-Wide spread appearances in mass media in the support
of small municipal streams.

TUTAYEV (Yaroslavl' province)Organization:House of NatureObject of Action:Volga river, small municipal streamsActions: Week of the River:1. Exhibition of pictures "River Needs Help"2. Business game "Volga"3. Concert of the folk group "From afar flows the
Volga"4. Local mass media will inform the residents on
the developments of the week.

PEREYASLAVL' (Ryasan' province)Organization:Pereyaslavl' National ParkObject:Small riversActions:-cleaning of small rivers to enable the fish access
to spawning ground;-environmental "landing force" operation in cleaning
Pleshcheevo lake of household waste;-research project of identification of pollution
sources ofsmall rivers and creeks;-finding out environmental pollution sources at
the territory of the city;-topic oriented publications in mass media;-lectures in the school and college with the program
"Water on the Earth".-competition of leaflets , posters, photos, literature
-Festival of Water

KALUGAObjects:Volga and Kievka riversOrganization:Children's ecological detatchment "Pinguin"Actions:- publishing an article in the newspaper on the
condition of the Volga and Kievka rivers- will make a competion of pictures;- will submit a formal protest to the management
of guarages' co-operative "Ogonyok", which makes a landfill out of the
river Kievka.- in school 23 they will organize a festival "The
Day of the River"

PAVLOVSK (Voronezh province)Object:River DonOrganization:-Young natural scientists stationActions :-Appearance on the district radio; will publish
an article in the district newspaper "Beacon of the Don"

SPAINAssociacion Ecologista de Defensa de la Naturaleza
(AEDENAT)Action :On March 14th AEDENAT representatives from nine
regions of Spain will bring samples of water from their rivers to the
Ministry of Environment in Madrid. Waters from the Ebro, the Duoro, the
Guadalquivir, the Tagus etc. will be ceremoniously handed over to the
highest authority responsible for the health of Sapnish rivers as a denouncement
of their lamentable state.Contact Information :AEDENATCampomanes 13 - 28013 Madrid, SpainPhone: +34 1 541 10 71Fax: +34 1 571 71 08aedenat@nodo50.orgWebsite: www.nodo50.org/aedenat/agua/daie.html

TAIWAN, Kaohsiung,
MeinungMeinung People's AssociationAction:For the International Day of Action against Dams
and for Rivers, Water and Life, a township anti-dam parade heading towards
the Yellow Butterfly Valley, the proposed Meinung Dam site, is being organized.
The parade team will consist of local peasants who will drive their tractors,
women with traditional Hakka Blue Clothes, college and elementary students,
and aboriginal people facing the same threat ...etc. A big-drum group
and a young Hakka anti-dam singer will accompany the parade. In addition,
we will have an Action Drama, portraying the meaning of the International
Day.Contact Information:Meinung People's AssociationChang Cheng-Yang, Executive Secretary12 Fu-An StreetMeinung 843, KaohsiungPhone: +886 7 6810467 or +886 7 6810371Fax: +886 7 6810201Email: mpa@listserv.nsysu.edu.tw

UNITED STATES,
California, BerkeleyInternational Rivers NetworkAction:Demonstration in front of the Chilean Consulate
to oppose the Ralco Dam on Chile's Biobío River and in front of
Bank of America's Corporate Headquarters to oppose foreign financing of
the massive Three Gorges Dam.Contact information:Aleta Brown, International Day of Action Communication
Coordinator1847 Berkeley WayBerkeley, CA 94703Phone: 510 848 1155Fax: 510 848 1008Email: aleta@irn.org

UNITED STATES, Colorado, IgnacioSouthern Ute Grassroots Organization (SUGO)Action:Sugo will hold an event on 14 March at the location
of the proposed pumping station for the Animas/La Plata Project. The event
will celebtate the life of the river. "Without a vision, the river will
die."Contact Information:Sage Douglas RemingtonPO BOX 637Southern Ute Indian ReservationIgnacio, CO 81137, USAPhone: 970 563 4483Fax: 970 563 4487sage@frontier.net

UNITED STATES, North Carolina, GreensboroHaw River AssemblyAction:Will stage a river clean-up and publicize opposition
to Randleman Dam, north of Greenboro.Contact Information:
Elaine Chiosso of HRA would be the right person/contact, 919-542-5790;
(chiosso@hawriver.org) www.hawriver.org

United States, Texas, ZapataZapata CountyAction :Will have information booth at Zapata County Fair
to oppose the third dam (now called the Lago Project) proposed upstream
on the Rio Grande. The dam site is in Web County, who supports the project.Contact Information :Mario Gonzalez DavisPO Box 99Zapata, TX 78076Phone: 956 765 9939Fax: 956 765 9926

URUGUAY, Colonia and
Frey BentosREDES, Friends of the Earth UruguayActionFriends of the Earth Uruguay is organizing two public
events. One is apublic debate in Colonia, Uruguay on the theme of
megaprojects with a focuson the Paraguay-Parana Hidrovia and the Colonia-Buenos
Aires Bridge. Theywill also premiere the Rios Vivos/IRN video "Pantanal:
Lifewaters." Theyare also organizing a public debate, along with
the NGO "Vida", in FreyBentos, Uruguay on the theme of contamination of
the Uruguay River.Contact InformationSilvia RibeiroPhone: +598 2 307 2455Fax: +598 2 308 1640Email: rios@redes.org.uy

The International
Anti-Dam Movement

Excerpted from Silenced Rivers: The Ecology and
Politics of Large Dams by Patrick McCully.Zed Books, London, 1996.

We Will Not Move: The International Anti-Dam
Movement

Koi nahi hatega, bandh nahi banega

(No one will move, the dam will not be built)

Doobenge par hatenge nahin

(We will drown but we will not move)

Slogans of the Narmada Bachao Andolan

The decade since the mid-1980s has seen the emergence
of an international movement against current dam-building practices. The
movement is comprised of thousands of environmental, human rights, and
social activist groups on all the world's continents except Antarctica.
It coalesced from a multitude of local, regional and national anti-dam
campaigns and a smaller number of support groups working at an international
level. Dam builders recognize and bemoan its effectiveness. ICOLD President
Wolfgang Pircher warned the British Dam Society in 1992 that the industry
faced 'a serious general counter-movement that has already succeeded in
reducing the prestige of dam engineering in the public eye, and it is
starting to make work difficult for our profession.'

The earliest successful anti-dam campaigns were
mostly led by conservationists trying to preserve wilderness areas. Until
recently, resistance from those directly impacted by dams was usually
defeated. Since the 1970s, however, directly affected people have gained
the power to stop dams, mostly because they have built alliances with
sympathetic outsiders - environmentalists, human rights and democracy
activists, peasants' and indigenous peoples' organizations, fishers and
recreationists. The rise of environmentalism has greatly helped the opponents
of dams - and anti-dam campaigns have in many countries played an important
role in the growth of national environmental movements. Other factors
contributing to the emergence of the international movement have been
the overthrow of authoritarian regimes and the spread of modern communication
technologies.

Dam opponents are not just 'antis', but are advocates
for what they see as more sustainable, equitable and efficient technologies
and management practices. Political changes which would best encourage
the preservation or adoption of these technologies and practices have
been a central demand of many anti-dam campaigns. Struggles that have
started with the aim of improving resettlement terms or of stopping an
individual dam have matured into movements advocating an entirely different
model of political and economic development. That decision making be transparent
and democratic is now seen by many dam opponents as being as important
as the decisions themselves. The clearest illustration of the wider political
importance of anti-dam movements is the crucial role that dam struggles
played in the pro-democracy movements of the 1980s in Eastern Europe and
South America...

Activists working at the local, national and international
levels have together managed to seriously tarnish the lure of large dams
as icons of progress and plenty. To many people, large dams have instead
become symbols of the destruction of the natural world and of the corruption
and arrogance of over-powerful and secretive corporations, bureaucracies
and governments. Although hundreds of large dams are still under construction
and many more are on the engineers' drawing boards, aid funds and other
public sector sources of financing are drying up, and public protests
are provoked by just about every large dam that is now proposed in a democratic
country. The international dam industry appears to be entering a recession
from which it may never escape.

Fulgêncio Manoel da Silva was murdered on
16 October, 1997 in Santa Maria da Boa Vista in the backlands of Pernambuco
state in northeast Brazil. Da Silva was a farmer, a poet, and a passionate
fighter for dam-affected people. He was also the person responsible for
the addition of the words "For Rivers, Water and Life" to the International
Day of Action Against Dams.

In an interview at the First International Meeting
of People Affected by Dams, held in Curitiba, Brazil in March 1997, da
Silva told IRN :

My goal is that the world, not just Brazil, study
ways to produce electricity without flooding lands, rivers, the environment;
and without affecting the life of the people... We are supporting the
proposal for an international day of struggle for the rivers, water, and
life because we support life - of people, of animals, and the rivers and
water.Da Silva was one of 40,000 people forced to make
way for the Itaparica Dam, built on the São Francisco River on
the border of Pernambuco and Bahia states. Not long after he learned his
family would lose their land, he met a family of beggars living under
a bridge who had been displaced by a dam but were once farmers like him.
It was this experience, he said, that moved him to organize the Itaparica
families.

Da Silva says there were many devastating impacts
from the project. It halted agricultural production for seven years, and
after that time, the production was not half of what is was before the
dam. This has had a great impact on the area and the people. The native
vegetation and crop trees such as bananas, coconut, oranges and mangoes
were submerged, rotting along with the barrels of agrotoxins that weren't
removed before inundation.

The cultural effects of the dam have been devastating.
According to da Silva, the customs and cultures of the people were drowned
with the rivers and waterfalls. "I don't feel any dam has yet provided
fair compensation for the affected people," he said. "Just compensation
will never take place because the destruction of the environment, the
destruction of the history of the people and of their lives, the history
of where they were born and lived - there is not enough money in the world
to pay for this."

It is suspected that the killing of da Silva was
ordered by drug traffickers operating in the resettlement communities.
The Brazilian Movement of Dam-Affected People (MAB), blames his murder
on the deplorable social conditions resulting from inadequate compensation
for the dam oustees. "This," said MAB, "generated the conditions which
led to this type of criminality, where families plant marijuana as a means
of survival. Money from the World Bank never reached the small farmers,
but instead was used to irrigate drug plantations."

"Political action," said Aurelio Vianna of the
Brazil Network on Multilateral Financial Institutions, "was not merely
an ideological question for Fulgêncio, but a question of honor."

In one of his poems, Fulgêncio wrote "The
river is our life-water. What we do with it affects the life of the people,
the life of the animals, the life of the river, and the life of the waters.
This is true for the world, not just for Brazil."

His work has not been in vain. On 14 March, for
the International Day of Action Against Dams and FOR RIVERS, WATER, AND
LIFE, we hold his spirit and his beliefs in a place of honor in our actions
and in our hearts